FreeCommander is an easy-to-use alternative to the standard windows file manager. The program helps you with daily work in Windows. Here you can find all the necessary functions to manage your data stock. You can take FreeCommander anywhere - just copy the installation directory on a CD, USB-Stick or even a floppy disk - and you can even work with this program on a foreign computer.

- Bug (critical): NC-Modus only - after rename operation the item was selected, but the selection was not visible
- Bug: on some pcs the tree pane was not visible
- Hotkey for sort by extension Shift+Ctrl+F4
- Default value for 'SelectCurrentHistoryDir4SelectDrive' changed to 1
- Some small bugs fixed

2006.06a

- Bug: MD5 sum for big files is not computed
- Bug: Splitter horizontal, network drive activate/deactivate -> lower drive bar is not displayed properly
- Bug: If 'Minimize to system tray' feature is active, the memory usage of the program is the same as when the program is opened
- Bug: Size settings in the search window work not correctly for some languages
- Bug: Sorting files by size, in the search window for some languages
- Bug: A problem with unpacking RAR files from subfolder: the file is extracted together with the folder
- Bug: The program crashes if you want to view images very quickly: F3,ESC,F3,ESC,F3,ESC,.....
- Bug: Rename item from context menu - after rename the item is selected (only NC-modus)
- Config item for drive select: always try to open folder from current history
SelectCurrentHistoryDir4SelectDrive=1

I have been using for years Powerdesk (Version 4.0.1) for NT which has proved to be compatible with Win 2000 then XP.
It's doing the same as FreeCommander.
Once you use this kind of tool, you stop wondering why so many people hate Microsoft, as they continue to deliver system tools that come short of being nicely designed and charge more for less practical usability.

• Address bar editable with auto completition and auto suggest (Alt+G or middle mouse button click)
• Function key bar
• DoubleClick on locked tab - go to locked folder, if not in tab
• New settings:
- Shell menu: add 'FreeCommander' item to context menu
- Start program: TEMP folder can be defined
- Programs: more options for define programs
- Select items: Hover time for select items with mouse pointer; open files with one click
- Folder Tabs: Folder history per Tab
- Function Key Bar: Show icons
- Drives: Show with drive select (3 options)
- Confirmations: Use dialog window for rename
- Color/Font: Color for striped lines in detail view
• New sorting options:
- Folders always at the end of the list
- Natural sorting (as Explorer)
- Folder like files (except for name)
• Shortcuts saved as text and not as number
• Favorite tools renewed (Categories, Toolbar, Drag&Drop)
• New toolbar button: Window splitting
• Desktop and Thumbnail button with drop down list
• View button with drop down list - you can use this button for toggle views between list and details. You can define more views for toggle in the freecommander.ini in the [Form] section, e.g. ToggleViews=1,2,5 if you want toggle between list, details and thumbnails.
• Localized Vista folders (reparse point folder) can be opened now
• New command line parameters /NewIni=, /Ini=, /NoPlugins, /Lng=, /N, /C, /Z
- /NewIni= Starts FC with a different INI file instead of freecommander.ini. A new file will always be created. If defined file exists, it will be deleted first.
- /Ini= Starts FC with a different INI file instead of freecommander.ini. A new file will be created if the defined file does not exist.
- /NoPlugins Starts FC with disabled plugins
- /Lng= Starts FC with a different language file instead of that defined in config file
- /N Starts FC in any case as new instance
- /C Starts FC and passes the command line parameters to the already running instance
- /Z For usage with /C parameter - interprets the passed paths as source/target instead of left/right.
• Many small bugs fixed

...program - FreeCommander - free file manager. Author has eight 16x16 icons and he needs the same icons in size 24x24 (not just resized, of course). Perhaps also change just few (three, or four) large "Win95" looking icons to "Win XP" looking.

Is there a comparison article/chart between FreeCommander and Total Commander (my current and preferred file manager) available? I tried it a few years ago and was wondering how it has evolved. Is it open-source?

I tried FreeCommander few years ago too and it was unusable for me (but my previous file manager is Servant Salamander). Many new features have been added since then, e.g. multi rename, favorite toolbar, flat view (in TC branch view), tabs, lister plugins support (other plugins are not supported yet, but author is working on a totally new version, more here).

Anyway, I highly recommend at least to try even the "old" version. It's the best program on my PC (sorry Anderson ). There are some features, options even better than in TC, some features were available even earlier in FC and I'm not sure if all, but there are several nice features available only in FC. There are few bugs and few features missing in the "old" version - mainly TC users miss these features, but it's not possible to implement it into the "old" version, therefore the author is working on a totally new version - link with more info is above.